Tags: Mark Nienhueser

Mark Nienhueser worked for Service Noodle, an online platform that made it easy for businesses to develop a website and a digital footprint. When he moved to the MPA, in 2013, he realized there were a lot of untapped digital opportunities for newspapers.

By 2017, it was clear to Janine York that she had to act. “Our newspaper is our core product, but we knew we needed to expand,” says York, the advertising director at the Missourian, a twice-weekly newspaper in the small town of Washington, Missouri.

While newspapers like The Washington Post and New York Times are able to freely experiment on the digital side of things, smaller publications have often been left to trudge along the digital path without much guidance.

The Washington Missourian was about to lose $5,000 to $6,000 in ad revenue to a competitor. The client needed to reach digital customers beyond the local opportunities the newspaper had provided in the past.

Selling digital services and products to advertisers is one way newspapers can strengthen their relationships with advertisers — and potential advertisers — while bringing in additional revenue, says Mark Nienhueser, advertising director at MPS.